Ticket 2 Ride

Gerard Butler stars in this action thriller, directed by Ric Roman Waugh. All I knew was the title and Butler as the star, so I took a chance on this 2023 film. Isn’t that how we choose a lot of our viewing; we take chances.

Kandahar has two distinctions. First, it was written by a former intelligence operative who worked in the Middle East. Second, it’s the first big Hollywood film to be entirely filmed in Saudi Arabia. Apparently, the Kingdom offers a hefty incentive program (a 40 percent cash rebate) to attract film production. The strategy is reportedly part of the larger effort to diversify the Saudi economy and grow film production jobs. The fact that the film was made in the Kingdom and received a lot of help from the government is prominent in the PR for the film. More on that later.

According to Rottentomatoes.com, the audience score is an impressive 82 percent, while the critics score is about half that at 46 percent. I only checked the site after viewing the film. I’m not surprised at the range of scores.

The centers on Butler’s character, Tom Harris, a shadowy operative supposedly working for the CIA. Harris and colleague are responsible for causing an Iranian nuclear facility to destroy itself by planting malware in the facility’s communications infrastructure, which then causes the facility to explode. End of film. Not really, it’s just the trigger for various evil forces to go after Harris, who must make his way through hostilities to reach an extraction point at Kandahar.

The film has various minor plots including an interpreter who is sent to help Harris navigate local languages. Unfortunately, the interpreter also falls into the line of fire as they keep half a step in front of their pursuers.

At first, this film hinted at being an espionage thriller, set in the churn of Middle Eastern states, armies and political factions. It’s difficult to tell one bad guy from another, or who works for whom, since affiliation is often based on the highest bidder. I was expecting something along the lines of Syriana, the 2005 political thriller based on Robert Baer’s 2003 memoir, See No Evil. Kandahar is not Syriana.

The Kandahar script was written by Mitchell LaFortune, who like Baer, was writing from experience. Instead of a deeply intertwined plot involving competing interests, like Syriana, Kandahar is more like a video game, and essentially a chase film.

What’s disappointing is how many interesting subplots are teed up, and then left to fizzle out. The subplot of Luna, the internet reporter who passes on leaked information that blows the cover of Harris and his colleague, never really gets any traction and is left unexplained. Patterned after the Edward Snowden leaks, Luna is captured by Iranian intelligence and interrogated. I kept waiting for that story to prove its worth in the film.

There are other suggested subplots that are unexplained, which provides more screen-time for the chase, which is the entire second half of the film. Kandahar attempts grandeur, not just in the plot, but in the action and firefights. The landscape and terrain makes for a spectacular backdrop, but the CGI scenes alternate between spectacular and cheap.

Kandahar is an action film that only hints at a geopolitical chess game. To save time, scenes are written where the characters say, what a good film shows. Most of the characters never develop a third dimension. Kandahar promises much more than it delivers.

Films like Kandahar play well on video and streaming services; it’s great popcorn entertainment. Glitz and explosions, no thinking required. I feel bad for the actors, a fine cast, who deserved a better written script. As an action film only, it has moments of heart-pounding drama, and the actors make the most of their roles. For a rainy afternoon, as you are scrolling through emails, this is a decent time-filler.

Other Thoughts…

I find it interesting that Saudi Arabia would embrace a film with such political themes. The Taliban are bad, Iran is bad, ISIL is bad, Pakistani intelligence operatives are bad, but the Americans and British are good. That’s simplified of course, but Saudi Arabia is now playing in the big leagues with film production, New Castle United (80 percent Saudi owned) and LIV Golf.

The economic and social change underway in Saudi Arabia to diversify and modernize has many tentacles as the Saudis have billions of dollars to work with. That money attracts flies like Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner looking for billions of investment dollars, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair being hired as a consultant on modernization. Human rights issues and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are nowhere in the conversation.

Sportswashing is the term applied to the Saudis pumping billions into sports. Tourism has grown to represent 7% of Saudi GNP, and sport is at 1.5%, a significant increase. Tourism is big money. “We are aiming to get over 100 million visits in 2030, maybe 150. Last year we reached almost 40 million visits from Saudi and globally,” said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to FoxNews. Money washes everything clean.